


Miraculous: The Tales of Ladybug and Greyling

by JelloJolteon, miraculous_lovesquare



Series: Greyling AU [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Greyling AU, Mr. Pigeon - Freeform, Sort Of, Stormy Weather, adrien develops a crush on marinette, adrien has nooroo, adrien's allergy, but hes still just as oblivious to it, but mylene and ivan get together, chronological order, gabriel already has plagg, grayling au, he needs tikki, jellojolteon, marinette has an internship, marinette still has tikki, mitima, more tags as chapters progress, no stoneheart, nooroo ships it, rather than the order of the show, there are still gabriel monologues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-03-20
Packaged: 2019-03-16 20:43:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13644084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JelloJolteon/pseuds/JelloJolteon, https://archiveofourown.org/users/miraculous_lovesquare/pseuds/miraculous_lovesquare
Summary: An evil force has taken the Black Cat miraculous, it's up to Ladybug and her partner Greyling, the owner of the butterfly miraculous, to take down Tuxedo Cat and return the miraculous to safety.PERMANENTLY ON HIATUS.I am a college student who is also working, so I may or may not come back to this. For now, I've just written a few episodes worth of Greyling AU.





	1. Origins Part One

**Author's Note:**

> So this is jellojolteon's au, and they have graciously agreed to let me write their ideas. Find them on tumblr (http://jellojolteon.tumblr.com/) and feel free to bother me too (http://miraculous-lovesquare.tumblr.com/)
> 
> As the summary says, I'll try and stick to updates every Sunday, we'll see how it goes lol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug gets her Miraculous

Chaos.

It reigned in the streets of Paris.

“People from the area fear for their lives as the new supervillain Tuxedo Cat seems to destroy everything he touches. You can see the ashes here from what used to be an entire apartment complex, now just a small pile of dust. This is Nadia Chumack reporting in.”

Marinette clicked off the news. The building in question was only a couple streets over from her house. _Luckily school was in the opposite direction_ she thought as she slung her bag over her shoulder. She kissed her mom’s cheek and hugged her dad’s side before heading out the door with a box of macaroons to share.

As she waited on one side of the road for the light to turn, she noticed an older man who was not waiting. He had a cane, and as a car approached, she knew he was going to get hit. Quickly, she ran out and pulled him to the side of the street, most of the treats flying out of their box. She offered the man one of the ones still in the box with a smile, barely catching his thanks before walking across the road. She looked at her phone for the time. How was she always so late? She started to sprint.

She didn’t notice the thoughtful look on his face as she ran.

***

Oh no.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng, this is my seat,” Chloe said, slamming her hand on the desk.

“But I’ve sat here every year, Chloe,” Marinette said, pulling her bag closer to her side.

“New year, new seats,” Sabrina said from Marinette’s other side.

“Adrien’s seat is going to be there so mine is going to be here,” Chloe said. “Go sit with the new girl or something.” Marinette glanced over at the new student, earning a sympathetic look. Then the new student walked over.

“Who elected you queen of seats?” Marinette stared in shock as the two shared a brief exchange before being dragged to the seat next to the new girl. She dropped her box on the way, honestly, she would be surprised if any of them survived this time.

“I wish I could stand up to Chloe like you do,” Marinette said. The new girl whipped out a comic and began to talk about the superhero. 

“She says the inaction of good people allows evil to thrive. We’re good, she’s the evil, so we need to act! Are you in, …?” Marinette smiled. She looked in the box to find one macaroon left. She split it in two and held out a half.

“Marinette.” She said.

“Alya.” 

The two girls munched on their treats happily as the lesson began.

***

“How did this get here?” Marinette wondered, looking at a small, hexagonal box sitting on her dresser. She opened it and a bright flash emerged. When she was able to see again, she thought she was hallucinating. 

“It’s a mouse! Or a cockroach! A mouse-roach? What are you?” She screamed, hurling whatever she could at the small,  _ flying _ creature.

“Calm down, Marinette, I’m your friend!” The creature said, her voice high pitched and could be cute if it weren’t for the fact that Marinette  _ still didn’t know what  _ (she? he? it?) _ was _ .

“What are you doing here, how do you know my name?” Marinette asked, finally catching the thing in a glass container from her desk.

“Okay, if this makes you feel safer.” The small thing smiled. “My name is Tikki, and I’m a kwami. I give you the power of creation!”

That was it, Marinette was losing her mind. She lifted the hatch to her room just a crack.

“Mom! Dad!” She ignored the kwami’s repeated ‘no’s until it flew to her face.

“Your parents cannot know, no one can. You need to defeat Tuxedo Cat.” Marinette closed the trap door, the reality of everything setting in. The kwami took this as a sign to continue.

“These earrings are your miraculous, they allow me to grant the holder my power. Tuxedo Cat’s power is one of destruction. He’s supposed to be your other half, as Chat Noir, but the miraculous has fallen into evil hands.

“His kwami has probably done something to give him a weakness that you can use. You must get the miraculous back. His ring is all you need, but even stopping the destruction would be a good first step.

“You have a magical yo-yo that you can use for transportation or fighting. To transform, just say ‘transform me’, and you have a special power called ‘Lucky Charm’ which will give you something that you need. After you're done, throw the lucky charm into the air and all the damage done by Miraculous powers will be undone.”

“Wow, Tikki, this is all so much, so fast,” Marinette said, clipping on her earrings. “What’s the special charm thing again?”

“Lucky Charm!” Tikki said. “And whenever you’re ready, just say ‘transform me’!”

“Transform me?” Marinette questioned and suddenly wind seemed to blow her hair up, exposing her earrings. Tikki disappeared and Marinette felt material appear across her face. Her clothes were replaced with the same feeling and something fairly light wrapped around her waist. 

“Tikki?” She called. Silence answered. She looked at herself in the mirror.

“Tikki, I’m not going out in this, I want my normal clothes back.”

“Marinette?” Her mom’s voice called from beneath her room.

“Oh, this is the last thing I need.” Marinette quickly climbed to her balcony, unwrapping the yo-yo from her waist.

“From what I know, a magical yoyo and a special power.” She looked out, trying to find something sturdy to swing from. Not finding anything useful, she chucked the yo-yo, and it latched. She gave it a testing tug before swinging. She screamed as she zoomed through the air, almost falling to the ground before her yo-yo caught onto something else, tangling herself in the process.

“This is going to take some getting used to.” She muttered. Brushing herself off, she got up and swung around, getting used to the feeling of the yo-yo. By the time she finally had it down, it was late at night, and she still hadn't run into Tuxedo Cat.

"I'll search for him tomorrow." She decided, zipping back to the bakery.


	2. Origins Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greyling's turn to receive a Miraculous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's 12am on Sunday, you know what that means!  
> Thank you all for the encouraging comments, they really help motivate me to write this fic.  
> ((chapter three is already halfway done...))

“Almost there!” Adrien said to himself. He just had a couple more turns. Unfortunately, he could also see the black car. _ Right here, then in two streets make a left _ . A loud crunch got his attention.

Turning around, he saw the car thrown by Tuxedo Cat. His eyes widened and he jumped behind a dumpster, a baton flying past his face. He could see a tired Ladybug trying desperately to keep Tuxedo Cat at bay. He saw the black energy surrounding the Cat’s claws and watched in slow motion as it headed for the new superheroine.

He didn’t think, he reacted.

He threw his body between the hand and the girl. The Cat hesitated, pulling back his hand. Adrien vaguely heard the hero behind him yell some words before jumping in front of him, forcing the Cat’s hand to his own suit with a belt. Tuxedo Cat managed to grab the belt instead of touching his suit, barely able to wiggle his hand out before Ladybug could grab the ring on his hand.

He fought his way out of her grasp, then startled at the sound of his ring beeping. He growled before pouncing out, fleeing the alley.

“Are you hurt?” The superhero asked. Adrien shook his head.

“You really shouldn’t have done that.” She said. “You could have been killed.” Adrien shrugged and he would have hated the way her eyes softened if they hadn’t been such a beautiful blue.

“You probably have somewhere to be that’s not a dank alley.” Adrien nodded and headed out, looking back once to see the girl had vanished.

If he had looked back again, he would have seen an old man at the other end of the alleyway with a hexagonal box in his hand.

It didn’t matter, the old man would find him soon.

***

“Tikki, I almost let the poor boy get killed!” Marinette said, burying her face in her knees.

“But you saved him, and Tuxedo Cat went back into hiding!” Tikki said.

“I couldn’t even fight him the first day.” She whined looking back up at the news where they reported on the new superhero that erased all traces of destruction. If only they knew what a failure she was.

“Marinette, it was your first day!” Tikki said.

“And it’s going to be my last, I’m sorry Tikki, I can’t do this.” Marinette began to pull out her earrings.

“Someone has to defeat Tuxedo Cat.” Tikki looked at her with big blue eyes. Marinette looked away.

“Well, choose someone else, I’m not the one you need.”

“Marinette wait-” The kwami called. As the second earring left Marinette’s ear, there was silence.

“Tikki?” Marinette sighed and gathered up her bookbag, ready for another day of school.

***

“Young man, what’s your name?”

Adrien turned to see an older gentleman, walking with a cane.

“Do I know you?” He asked. Being homeschooled, he hadn’t been able to apply the stranger danger rules he saw on the internet, but now he was glad he watched the silly videos.

“No, but I saw you up against Tuxedo Cat. I think you should have this.” He held out a small box. It looked old, and vaguely like a jewelry box for a watch or a ring.

“Um, thank you?” Adrien was used to fans and gifts from said fans, but usually, they were in his age group. He took the box and smiled politely before taking off towards the school, trying to get there before Nathalie could catch him.

***

“KIM!” Ivan roared, ready to punch the athlete. 

“Ivan, what is wrong with you? Report to Mr. Damocles for detention.” The teacher said. Ivan’s shoulders were hunched around his neck as he left, a piece of paper falling from his hands. Marinette took it before someone like Chloe could. She looked at the cartoon image of Ivan as a baby, surrounded by the words “You can’t even tell Mylene that you love her, wuss.” She sighed, it had Kim written all over it.

“Hey girl, did you see that new superhero?” Alya said, hopping into the seat beside her. Marinette nodded, looking at the floor.

“So. Cool. I’ve already got a blog started, I’m going to try and video all of her fights.” Alya pulled out her phone and showed Marinette a video.

“Just look at the way she uses her yo-yo. I never thought a toy could be used like that!” Alya gushed. Marinette smiled a little.

“So you aren’t disappointed that she wasn’t able to defeat Tuxedo Cat?” She asked.

“Girl, have you read any comics? It always takes a ton of fights before the hero can finally defeat the villain. I’m ready to capture every one!” Alya said, holding up her phone.

“Sounds like you want to be Ladybug,” Marinette suggested.

“I’d rather fight beside her,” Alya said, throwing a couple karate chops. Both girls giggled, and the bell began to ring.

***

“But father-”

“No Adrien, it is far too dangerous out there with this… Tuxedo Cat. You are not to leave this house without the Gorilla, and you are definitely not allowed to leave without permission.” Adrien looked up at his father through watery eyes. The look on his face said he wouldn’t change his mind anytime soon. Adrien looked back down, submitting to his father’s authority.

“You may continue, Nathalie.” He walked out of the room.

“We can stop if-” Adrien didn’t hear the rest, he ran to his room and buried his face in his pillow.

***

“So, want to eat lunch with me?” Alya asked. Marinette glanced down at the paper in her hand.

“I’ve got something to do first. Meet you at the park?” Alya nodded, leaving the classroom. Marinette looked over at Ivan. They were the last two left in the classroom.

“Hey, Ivan, that wasn’t a very cool thing for Kim to do,” Marinette said, holding up the paper. “It’s not shameful to tell someone you love them.” Ivan looked at her.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He said.

“I can see you have feelings for her, and I can see her feelings for you. You should talk to her.” Marinette said with a smile.

“I’m no good with words.” Ivan looked at the ground.

“Who needs words? You can use art, or send her flowers or…”

“I could write her a song?” Ivan said, meeting Marinette’s eyes.

“Yes! What girl wouldn’t want a love song written about them!” Ivan nodded and walked out the door, putting headphones on his ears. Marinette grabbed her bag and headed out to meet with Alya.

***

Adrien flopped his head to the side, eyes finding the mysterious box that had been given to him that morning. Maybe that would cheer him up. He sat up and opened it, almost blinded by the purple light it emitted.

“Woah, like a genie from a bottle.” He said, poking the small butterfly that had appeared before him.

“I’m Nooroo, and I’m a kwami. I give you the power to gift people powers.”

“How do I do that?” He asked. The small kwami seemed to smile at him.

“When someone is feeling strong emotion, you can send a butterfly, a Mitima, out to transform them into a superhero. My past masters have used hate, which is the most powerful, but it’s very important to calm the person down so they can be heroes instead of villains.

“You also have control over them. You share a connection with these people, whatever emotions they feel, you sense, and vice versa, but if your emotions are too strong, they will bend to your will completely.

“Once you put on the pin and say ‘transform me’ you will be able to do all of this, but you need some training first.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Adrien asked. The kwami nodded and then began a lecture.

***

“I’ve gotta grab something from my room, I’ll meet you back at school,” Marinette said. Alya nodded and continued on to the school building. Spending lunch break with her new friend had been nice. Alya, without knowing, had built up Marinette’s confidence. She felt ready to put on the earrings and train some more with Tikki. She felt bad about the way she had just shut the kwami down too. She should apologize to the little bug.

“Tuxedo Cat is out again, he is not destroying things yet, but he has been spotted around Paris.” Marinette heard the TV speak and looked in horror as she realized how close to the school he was. She ran up to her room and put the earrings back on, Tikki smiling sweetly at her.

“I’m sorry, Tikki, but right now we have to go. Transform me!” Marinette jumped out of her balcony and headed towards the last spot the news had shown the Cat.

***

“After a long fight, Tuxedo Cat has disappeared once more. But we have some questions about this hero. Who is she and why can’t she get rid of Tuxedo once and for all? Going live to the spot where the fight took place.”

“Ladybug, why does Tuxedo keep coming back.”

“Who are you?”

“Why were you chosen?”

The girl looked into the camera.

“Look, I don’t know why I was chosen, but I know that superheroes can take some time before defeating a villain. Tuxedo Cat will be defeated, but while he’s not, I will continue to fight him and undo the damage he does. Thank you.” The camera followed her as she zipped off, eventually losing sight of her.

Adrien sighed happily.

“She’s amazing, like, crazy amazing.”

“You will be a good partner for her if you keep feeling this way,” Nooroo said.

“I don’t think I’ll ever stop,” Adrien said, eyes now unfocused as he thought about Ladybug.

Nooroo fluttered over to sit on the table, resting right next to the butterfly brooch.

“Put it on, you’re ready now.” He said.

***

Marinette watched as Ivan stomped down the hallway.

“What’s wrong, Ivan, did Kim say something else?” She asked. He shook his head.

“Mylene didn’t like my song.” He said. “She ran away.”

“That doesn’t mean that she doesn’t like you,” Marinette said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll go talk to her about it.” Ivan nodded and continued his stomp. He looked less upset, but Marinette really needed to get to the bottom of this. She walked to the bathroom and saw Mylene looking at herself in the mirror.

“Mylene, what went wrong between you and Ivan?”

“He screamed some words at me, and I got scared.” She admitted.

“Mylene, he was trying to sing a love song for you.” Marinette watched a blush rise on the smaller girl’s cheeks.

“Really?” Marinette nodded.

“He’s a little upset about you running away, you should talk to him about it,” Marinette suggested. Mylene splashed some water on her face before exiting the bathroom.

“They’re going to be so cute together!” Tikki said from Marinette’s bag. Marinette looked guiltily at her kwami.

“Tikki… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-”

“It’s okay Marinette, we all have moments of self-doubt. You’re here now, and-” Tikki was interrupted by the bell.

“And now I’m going to be late if I don’t hurry,” Marinette said. She heard light giggles from her bag as she rushed to class, sliding into the seat beside Alya. Looking over, she noticed that Chloe and Sabrina were still talking in the hall. She motioned Alya over and took her seat back.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng, what is this nonsense? I told you that’s my seat.” Marinette held her chin up.

“The inaction of good people allows evil to thrive, so I’m taking action,” Marinette said. Chloe exchanged a confused look with Sabrina before realizing Marinette wasn’t going to move. She huffed and took the seats at the desk Marinette and Alya had been at before.

“You go, girl!” Alya whispered as the teacher began. Marinette winked and started to take notes.

If she could handle Tuxedo Cat, she could handle Chloe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nooroo Knows, and he already ships it


	3. Stormy Weather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first Champion: Stormy Weather

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Iiiitt's Sunday! And we're off with the first occurrence of a Mitima (equivalent of an Akuma, but friendly)

“Manon? Where are you?” Marinette called, searching for the small child. She heard giggles and turned around to see her work-in-progress hat resting on brown pigtails.

“Manon, that one’s not done, you’re going to ruin it!” Marinette tried to reach for the hat, but Manon dodged her easily. Once again, Marinette couldn’t see her anymore. She sighed, rubbing her temples. She saw a flash of red out of the corner of her eye and noticed Tikki out of her hiding spot.

“Tikki, hide! Manon could see you.” She hissed, still looking around for the child.

“Relax Marinette, it’ll be fine.” Tikki reassured her. “If you can handle Manon, you can handle Tuxedo Chat no problem.” Marinette smiled, then her eyes caught a bulge in the curtains. She snuck up, carefully grabbing a side. When she pulled it open, she heard laughter come from the couch. The hat was placed neatly on a stool, the brim had been causing the ripple in the fabric.

“I’m voting for Mireille!” Manon stated, Marinette’s phone in her hands. Marinette ran up to grab it, but as little fingers let go of the phone, they latched back onto the hat, leaving Marinette to another wild goose chase around the living room.

She really needed reinforcement. She dialed a number and held the phone to her ear, still walking around to look for Manon.

“Alya? Yeah, sorry to bother you…”

***

“Remember, find someone with strong emotions, talk them down, then give them abilities based on their situation. Ladybug’s kwami will know how to handle the Mitima when the battle is finished.”

“Right.” Adrien said, staring at himself in the mirror. The pin certainly didn’t match his outfit, and he couldn’t wear it all the time, his dad was a fashion designer, he would notice his son’s accessory change. But when he saw Tuxedo Chat running around, he knew what he had to do.

“Nooroo, transform me!” He said, feeling a rush come over him. He brushed two fingers over his eyes, creating a mask, and felt the rest of the suit cover his arms and legs. He looked in the mirror once more, nodded, and then began to feel.

***

The doorbell rang and Marinette ran to get it.

“Hey, girl.” Alya greeted.

“Sorry for bothering you about this, but Manon, she’s a…” The ringing sound of metal sounded from the kitchen. Marinette’s shoulders slumped. “A little angel.”

“I have twin sisters, I know all about little angels.” Alya said, giving a wink. Manon seemed to decide that a new person was more interesting than the pots and pans, and came to stand behind Marinette’s legs.

“Who are you?” She asked, tilting her head. Alya crouched to her level.

“I am a magical unicorn from the land of Rispa, disguised as a gorgeous teenage girl.” Manon squinted her eyes.

“No you’re not.” She stated. Then she hesitated. “Are you?” Alya picked her up and set her gently on Marinette’s shoulders.

“Let’s go to the park to run out some of that energy.” Alya led the way out the door, Marinette following with Manon tugging on her pigtails.

***

“And the winner is… Mirelle!” Alex said cheerfully. Aurore hung her head in shame. It should have been _ her. _ She had the outfit, the looks, and the voice. What did Mirelle have that she didn’t? All she had ever wanted to do was be on TV, and being a weather girl seemed like the perfect way to do that.

“She really crushed you, didn’t she.” The host said, suddenly beside her. She frowned and stomped off, ignoring whatever else he said. She made it down the hallway and jabbed the down button for the elevator. It came quickly, and as the doors opened smoothly, she went inside and pressed the ‘close door’ button until they finally slid together.

“Stupid competition, stupid audience, it should have been me.” She muttered, leaning against the back of the empty elevator. Suddenly the elevator stopped and she fell to the ground with a huff. She saw a light, almost glowing, butterfly worm its way through the crack. She batted at it with her parasol, but the thing absorbed into the material.

She felt something cover her face, and a voice speaking to her as if it were right next to her, speaking in her ear.

“Hello weather girl, I’m Greyling. If it’s recognition you want, I can give you that.” Aurore smirked at the promise.

“But in return, you need to help me.” A vision of Ladybug appeared before her eyes.

“Assist Ladybug in fighting Tuxedo Cat, you’ll get your fame, and you can do some good too.” Greyling’s line of thought was convincing. She nodded, wondering if he got the memo. As soon as her chin dipped a second time, she felt the normal cloth of her clothes replaced with something different. There was something across her face.

And she felt  _ powerful _ .

***

“But Marinette, I want a balloon!” Manon whined. Marinette’s feet dragged over to the vendor, looking through her purse for the right amount of change. She handed it over to the man, who gave a balloon straight to Manon.

“You have to learn to say no, Marinette.” Alya said, watching as Manon grabbed Marinette’s arm and pulled her towards the merry-go-round.

“It’s the eyes, I can’t resist the babydoll eyes.” Marinette said, feet moving under Manon’s maneuvers. Alya rolled her eyes and as they got to the ride, she put a hand on Marinette’s shoulder.

“I’ll handle this, you take a break. Besides, you can’t even handle her.” Marinette was gently shoved to the side and Alya climbed on the horse behind Manon.

“But I want Marinette!” Manon pouted.

“Trust me.” Alya said to Marinette, then she thrust her fist forward.

“Onwards! To planet Rispa, land of the unicorns!” Alya shouted. Manon considered before mimicking Alya’s actions and cry.

“To Rispa!” Marinette smiled and went to take a seat on a park bench. Suddenly the carousel stopped.

Tuxedo Cat smiled from the control booth, the stand in ashes in front of him. He began to walk towards the ride, hand skimming the ground and leaving a streak of dead grass. Marinette ran behind a tree and called her transformation.

Suddenly, a girl in a dark dress and a parasol flew in. She used her umbrella to make a whirlwind around the ride, encasing it in ice. Tuxedo Cat growled, the dark cloud around his hand disappearing as it lifted from the ground. His ring beeped and he ran off to recharge. Ladybug took the chance to run over to the new girl.

“Hey! What’s your name?” She asked. Her face looked vaguely familiar, but Ladybug couldn’t place it. The girl looked at her, hands on her hips.

“I’m Stormy Weather, I was sent by Greyling to help you.” She said. The weather jogged her memory. It was that girl from the Kids+ weather girl competition. But Greyling? That didn’t sound like a weather phenomenon. Ladybug’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Who’s that?” Stormy Weather shrugged.

“I don’t know, he just said he would give me powers to help you defeat Tuxedo Cat.” Marinette went to ask another question, but the villain’s fleeing figure ran through her mind. She shook her head and cleared her mind, she could think about this ‘Greyling’ later.

“We need to make a plan for when Tuxedo Cat comes back.” She looked at Alya and Manon, still trapped in the ice.

“We should get them out of there, can you do that?” Ladybug requested. Stormy Weather thought about it.

“I don’t know if I can, plus they’re safer there than running through the streets.” Ladybug nodded. She walked over to the side of the ice.

“Where’s Marinette? Is she alright?”

“It’s going to be okay, Manon, Marinette will be right back.” Ladybug said, smiling gently.

“How do you know my name?” Ladybug’s heart stopped for a second before thinking up a quick excuse.

“Marinette told me. Don’t worry, we’ll get you out of there in no time.” She placed a hand on the ice, and Manon did the same from the other side. Alya gave a thumbs up and Ladybug turned back around to Stormy Weather.

“So, any ideas on how to defeat Tuxedo Cat?” The weather girl asked.

***

Greyling smiled at the flow of emotions running through his champion. He was getting better at following what was going on from the thoughts she had. When she had seen Ladybug, the recognition flowed through their connection and Greyling had wanted to send back a message from himself. Nooroo had advised against using the Butterfly Effect however, so he reigned in his emotions and just focused on a way to help the girls out.

A weather based superhero was pretty strong, but what abilities could they use to defeat a villain of destruction? They certainly needed Tuxedo Cat to meet them on their turf, and they needed to have something ready to go. After a moment, it hit him, and he talked to Stormy Weather.

“You need to get Tuxedo on his own, right? I have a plan for that...”

***

“Hello, people of Paris!” Stormy Weather spoke. “As you know, Tuxedo Cat is out again, but I have my own plans.” She smirked and pointed her parasol at a map of France. A giant snowflake appeared over the entire country.

“Winter is my  _ favorite _ season, so it will be cold until we can get this Cat under control.” Ladybug switched off the recorder.

“Nice work, now let’s start it on air.” She set up the camera to play out their video, and led Stormy Weather to a hiding spot outside the doors.

Sure enough, as the end of the video was playing, Tuxedo Cat came through. He readied his Cataclysm and kicked through the door, looking around for the pair. Ladybug took out the light above him with her yo-yo, plunging the studio into darkness. It crashed, but it seemed Tuxedo Cat had dodged it. Ladybug’s arms went in front of her as she attempted to walk in the dark. A hand grabbed her wrist.

“This way.” Stormy Weather hissed. The girl must have known the studio from all the times she had been on air for the competition. She lead Ladybug up to the roof, Tuxedo Cat on their tail. When they reached the top, Stormy Weather called for a cyclone, closing off all escape routes for Tuxedo.

“You think you’ve trapped me, but all I want is your Miraculous!” Tuxedo shouted over the wind. Stormy Weather rolled her eyes and called for hail, adding to the Cat’s misery. Ladybug used the distraction to call her lucky charm, a towel landing in her hands. Her eyes scanned the rooftop.

A metal tube.

A spinning metal arm.

The parasol.

The towel.

She wrapped her yo-yo around Tuxedo’s ankle.

“I need a lift!” She called, running under the metal tube. Luckily the other girl understood, giving her a gust of wind. She used the towel as a parachute, lifting her up and dragging Tuxedo down. The metal arm swung around towards his face, and he instinctively brought up his arms to stop it. His hand was forced against his own suit, and he quickly dropped, losing consciousness.

Stormy Weather, seeing this, stopped all the chaos around them. Ladybug ran over to Tuxedo, but the cat took the opportunity to jump off the tower and escape. Ladybug frowned, but she knew Tuxedo would take a while to recover, his suit had been fading fast under his own power.

“Good job, Stormy.” Ladybug said, holding out a fist. The girl bumped it, then stood still, staring into space.

“Stormy?” Ladybug was concerned, had something happened?

“Greyling said to break this.” She said, holding out her umbrella. Ladybug hesitated, before realizing she could undo the damage soon. She snapped the stick over her knee, a butterfly flying out of it. The costume dissolved off of Stormy Weather, leaving Aurore standing in front of her. She seemed to recognize the butterfly, smiling fondly.

“He said you needed to capture the Mitama, and that you’d know what to do.” Aurore began to walk towards the stairs. Ladybug coaxed the butterfly onto the palm of her hand, unsure of what capturing it meant. Aurore stopped and turned around.

“It was cool to fight with you, Ladybug.”

“Same to you, Aurore.” Ladybug said, gently holding the butterfly in her hands. When the girl closed the door behind her, she de-transformed.

“Tikki, what do I do?” Marinette asked, opening her hands with the butterfly inside. Tikki gasped, delighted at the little creature.

“Nooroo is out again!” She said happily. “All you have to do is open up your yo-yo and catch the butterfly. All the energy inside it will dissipate and then you can set it free again.” Marinette nodded, calling her transformation back.

She gently kissed the butterfly, and then let it go, finding the opening of her yo-yo. When she found it, a small net popped out. She caught the butterfly, surprised when it was swallowed by her yo-yo. She breathed a small sigh of relief when a white butterfly emerged, unharmed. She watched as it flew away for a little bit, before her beeping earrings reminded her that she had limited time.

Swinging back to the park, she thought of Greyling, and of all the questions she had for Tikki about Nora? Nunu? Whatever the thing was. She de-transformed once  more behind a tree close to the park, letting Tikki snack on the cookies in her bag.

“Marinette!” Manon shrieked wrapping her arms around Marinette’s legs. She smiled, hugging the child back as best she could. Alya stood back and grinned at the antics.

“I know your secret!” Manon taunted. Marinette’s face drained.

“What secret?” She desperately tried to think of an excuse or a way to get out of-

“Ladybug is your best friend! That’s how she knows your name!” Marinette giggled nervously and stepped away from Manon so she could look at her properly.

“That’s definitely it.” She said, playing along. Manon was contented with that subject, nodding sagely. Then she noticed the candy store behind them.

“I want a lollipop, please, please, please?” She begged, flashing Marinette puppy dog eyes. She ignored them.

“No, Manon, I think it’s time we got back home.” Marinette was surprised by how easily Manon let it go, holding her hand and skipping along beside her. Alya walked on her other side, giving her a reassuring smile.

As the trio made their way back to the bakery, Tuxedo Cat licked his wounds in a dark room.

He would get that Ladybug miraculous, no matter how much help she received.


	4. Mr. Pigeon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mr. Pigeon (ft Adrien's allergies)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all have been so nice with the comments, so I'm pushing this out a day early! Special shout out to Lilafly, who's been especially nice and commenting on every chapter. Thank you for reading, kudos-ing, and commenting, I really enjoy Sundays because I get to share this with you guys.

“I’m sure you all are wondering what Adrien Agreste is doing here in our classroom.” Marinette rolled her eyes at the principal’s dramatics, but was quickly roped into his speech when he mentioned a design competition, judged by  _ Gabriel Agreste _ .

“And the item of clothing is... bowler hats!” Mr. Damocles proudly exclaimed. Marinette’s brows furrowed.

“A bowler hat?” She questioned under her breath. Pulling out her sketchbook, she began to flip through her designs. The bell rang and she absently followed Alya outside.

“A bowler hat… A bowler hat,” She repeated the words as she paced, hoping they would magically make one appear in her designs. She didn’t expect a fashion mogul like Gabriel Agreste to want to judge something so… Well, boring. She looked at Alya, who was sitting on a bench, watching her rambling.

“I’ve never made a bowler hat!” Marinette said, closing her sketchbook with one hand. “I have top hats, baseball hats, even helmets with horns!” Alya giggled, so Marinette continued.

“You want a beret? A-okay! A sombrero, no problemo! But a bowler hat?” Marinette shook her head. “I don’t know why I’m even so worked up about this, with my luck I’ll manage to drop the hat, trip over it, and land right on Mr. Agreste, knocking him out and sending him to the hospital. My fashion career will be over!” Marinette cried dramatically, dropping to her knees and burying her face in her friend’s lap.

“All this for a bowler hat?” Alya said, lifting her up by her shoulders. “I’m sure there’s something in here.” She said, reaching for Marinette’s sketchbook. Marinette pulled herself from the ground and sat beside her friend on the bench.

“Don’t bother, I’ll probably mess it up one way or another,” Marinette said, hugging her knees to her chest. Alya ignored her and continued to flip through the book.

“Wow, those are some nice designs, Miss…? ” An unfamiliar voice said. Marinette glanced up, noticing her idol’s son standing  _ right there _ . She scrambled to compose herself.

“I’m Alya, but these aren’t mine, they’re Marinette’s,” Alya spoke confidently, and Marinette wished she had her friend’s personality for just two seconds so she could get a word out. Instead, she just waved from behind Alya.

“Well, Marinette, you have some talent. You could win this!” The younger Agreste praised.

“Oh, uh, thanks, Adrien,” Marinette said, unable to meet his eyes. He smiled and waved goodbye, heading over to another group of students, his big bodyguard never far behind.

“Well, well, well, if I didn’t know your heart was claimed by the mysterious Greyling, I’d say you have a crush.” Alya teased, poking her friend in the side. Marinette giggled and rolled her eyes, regretting sharing that information with someone who aspired to be a journalist.

“But, hey, if Adrien thinks you could win, you should go for it, girl.” Marinette watched Alya pull out her phone. “Nine hours left, chop chop!”

“I have to go to my secret place of inspiration,” Marinette said, running out of the school building, narrowly missing running into several students and walls along the way.

She missed the bodyguard pressing on his earpiece and escorting Adrien out of the schoolyard.

***

Adrien was almost glad his dad was so protective. It meant that whenever Tuxedo Cat was out, he was locked up in his room. With his kwami. Left in peace.

“Are you ready, master?” Nooroo asked quietly, flitting over to Adrien’s side.

“I told you, you don’t have to call me that.” Adrien protested, holding out a hand for the kwami to rest on. The little being nodded, smiling gently.

“Nooroo, transform me!” Adrien felt the suit come over him, the feeling not yet familiar to him. He reached out, searching for emotions that he could easily read. He was pulled towards the park, a man upset that he… couldn’t feed pigeons? Well, he could be easily turned into fighting for good.

Greyling captured a white butterfly between his hands, seeping energy into its tiny body. He let the Mitima fly away, its target implanted in its mind.

“Hello Mr. Pigeon, I am Greyling. If you want to convince people that pigeons are good, why don’t you use them to fight evil? You can change the public’s view of pigeons if you help Ladybug defeat Tuxedo Cat.” Greyling heard the man’s agreement and transformed him.

Suddenly, he sneezed. Greyling sighed, shoulders slumping.

He had forgotten about his feather allergy.

***

Marinette watched a peculiar man as she tried to think of a nice bowler hat design. A pile of discarded efforts sat beside her, discouraging her.

“All that man needs is a feathered suit,” Tikki giggled, trying to cheer her up. Then the spark hit.

“What about a feathered bowler hat?” Marinette replied, sketching out a rough idea. As it began to take shape, she barely registered the man being taken away by the park officials. The start of her inspiration may have left, but she was now just adding detail. When the hat was finished, she held it up triumphantly, grinning at her creation. It wasn’t a boring bowler hat, but it was still fashionable enough to go with a nice suit.

“Nice work, Marinette!” Tikki exclaimed from her purse, Marinette thanked her before closing her kwami safely inside and going home to work on her idea.

In her rush, she failed to notice Chloe and Sabrina hiding behind a pillar, at the perfect angle to snap a picture of her sketch.

***

Marinette ignored the time as she worked on the hat, Tikki bringing her an apple to munch on at one point in the process. Eventually, she reached the band, but she needed to attach the feathers to it before she could sew it into the hat. She looked around, did she even pick up feathers while she was at the park? Thinking back, she realized she hadn’t and checked the time briefly on her phone. She sighed in relief when she realized she had enough time to go and get some.

“I’ve gotta go get those feathers, Tikki, they’re a major part of the hat.” Tikki simply phased into Marinette’s purse. Marinette was grateful that her kwami was so patient.

She hopped on a bus, dashing into the park to grab a feather off the ground and quickly getting back on the same bus to head back home. This time, the ride was taking much longer, honks from various cars making a musical that only added to Marinette’s anxiety. She checked the time again.

“Come on, is there any way we can go faster?” She murmured, heading up to the front of the bus. The driver replied that they needed to get off, citing traffic problems. Marinette sighed, resigning herself to sprinting home. However, when she went to step off the bus, a cluster of pigeons blocked her way.

“This is weird,” She said to herself, walking over to a TV which was displaying the news. The news anchor talked, but Marinette ignored it in favor of the new champion they were showing. Tuxedo Cat must be out. She slowly backed away, then found a place to hide and transform.

“Alright Tikki, Paris needs us. Transform me!”

***

“Very good, Mr. Pigeon, now wait for Ladybug to come to- achoo! ...You.” Greyling said. He felt the champion flinch every time he sneezed. This was a mistake he was only going to make once. The man only cooed softly, but Greyling was beginning to understand what each noise meant.

Greyling felt Mr. Pigeon’s attention shift. Ladybug was there. He heard the conversation through his champion’s ears. He grew excited before he tamped his emotions down, not wanting to take over the man. He sneezed and felt it travel the connection. Especially not with his allergy.

“Hello, Ladybug, how may I assist you?” Mr. Pigeon asked pleasantly.

“You must be the latest from Greyling, no? What’s your name?” Ladybug said as she wrapped her yo-yo around her waist.

“I am Mr. Pigeon, and I have an idea for capturing Tuxedo Cat.” Greyling raised an eyebrow, surprised that this bird-like man already had a plan.

“I’m all ears.” Ladybug said, and Mr. Pigeon began to explain.

***

“Why do you keep flinching?” Ladybug asked as they waited. They had a trap set, they were just waiting on the army of pigeons to bring Tuxedo Cat to the hotel rooftop.

“I think Greyling is allergic to feathers.” Mr. Pigeon replied, frowning slightly. Ladybug placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“It’s not your fault, you know.” She reassured him. “He chose you,  _ knowing _  that you would have pigeons around you at all times.”

“Thanks, Ladybug.” Mr. Pigeon said. Ladybug patted his shoulder, then let her hand fall to her hip.

“It’s a pleasure working with Greyling and his champions.” Ladybug’s eyes were focused on the rooftop in front of them, but if she had looked over, she would have seen Mr. Pigeon blush. Either way, she wouldn’t have known that it was Greyling’s emotion displayed on Mr. Pigeon’s cheeks.

“There!” She pointed at a mass of pigeons. The clump of grey dropped off a figure on the glass top over the pool. Tuxedo Cat looked around, trying to spot Ladybug.

“Let’s go.” She said, swinging over, Mr. Pigeon following behind. As soon as they landed, Tuxedo Cat attempted to run at them, but the pigeons gathered into a tornado around him. A birdcage was dropped through the chaos, birds flying out of the way just in time.

“Give us your miraculous, or the birds will spray you.” Mr. Pigeon demanded. Tuxedo Cat looked worried as he saw the pigeons turn around and ruffle their tails at him. Ladybug smirked.

“One… Two…” Mr. Pigeon didn’t get to three, Tuxedo Cat used his special attack to deteriorate the bars and leave the cage, growling at the two heroes as he fled.

“That didn’t work as well as I’d thought.” Mr. Pigeon said, disappointed.

“He’ll need time to recharge now, we can set up another trap.” Ladybug said, already thinking of different ways to catch the Cat.

***

Mayor Bourgeois was quite surprised when Tuxedo Cat flew into his hotel.

“I demand cheese and privacy.” The villain hissed, showing dangerous claws at the end of his fingers. The mayor gulped and sent him to the best suite in the hotel, sending a server up with a cheese platter.

He didn’t dare come between Tuxedo Cat and anything he desired. Not even for the sake of his guests, who were all now nervous to be in his hotel.

“Please, Ladybug, defeat Tuxedo Cat.” He prayed before returning to his hotel duties.

***

“Do you think he’ll fall for another trap?” Mr. Pigeon asked.

“I don’t know.” Ladybug answered honestly. “But we have your pigeons watching all sides of the building, so if he tries to sneak in, we’ll know about it.”

A pigeon flew over to land on Mr. Pigeon’s arm and he flinched. Ladybug wasn’t sure which to be sorrier for, Greyling who was allergic, or Mr. Pigeon who was experiencing allergies through Greyling.

“He is around the front right now, but he’s finding a different way in.” Mr. Pigeon said, sending the bird off to continue watching. The two heroes kept looking at other entrances, wondering which one he would take. Then the window behind them opened.

Ladybug tackled Mr. Pigeon off the catwalk they had been standing on, bringing them safely to the floor with her yo-yo. Tuxedo Cat quickly joined them, lunging for Ladybug, but a swarm of pigeons formed a wall between them. He activated his cataclysm and the pigeons flew away, too scared of the destructive power to do Mr. Pigeon’s bidding.

“Lucky Charm!” Ladybug caught a coin in the palm of her hand. She looked around, pigeons keeping Cat occupied for the moment.

A support beam.

A vending machine.

Tuxedo Cat.

The coin.

She understood what she needed to do. Diving between Tuxedo Cat’s legs, she wrapped her yo-yo around an ankle, flipped around the support beam, then bought some sticky popcorn from the vending machine.

She ripped the bag apart and tossed it over Tuxedo Cat, the pigeons now swarming him closer than before, knowing there was a sweet treat. She used the distraction to hoist him up the support beam. She wrapped his arms tight to his body, his hand brushing his thigh just enough to activate cataclysm against his own suit.

“Take this,” She handed the end of her yo-yo to Mr. Pigeon, running over to the Cat. She watched in slow motion as Mr. Pigeon fumbled the string, due to a badly timed allergy bout. Tuxedo Cat noticed the loosening of the string and took off.

“I’m sorry, I ruined that one.” Mr. Pigeon apologized.

“None of us are perfect, and you did well for your first time being a hero. He’s back in hiding now, so we can repair the city.” Ladybug said, holding out a fist. Mr. Pigeon smiled, meeting her fist with his own. His face went blank for a moment before he took the bird call from around his neck.

“Here, Greyling said you need this.” She nodded, smashing the small, delicately carved piece of wood. She quickly called “Miraculous Ladybug” and gave the newly repaired item back to the civilian standing in front of her.

“Thank you for your help.” She said, the beeping of her earrings and her oncoming deadline forcing her to leave. When she landed in her bedroom, she set a timer and went to work.

***

“I messed up, Nooroo,” Adrien said, grabbing at his hair. “It could have been over now if it wasn’t for my allergies.”

“You cannot control certain aspects of life, all you can do is improve. Learn from your past, but don’t waste time on it. You are a chosen, you were given power for a reason” Nooroo said, already flitting above his hiding place. A sharp knock on the door caused the little god to phase into it. Nathalie opened the door and took a step into his bedroom.

“We will be leaving for  Collège Françoise Dupont in ten minutes.” She said. He nodded and she left. Nooroo came out cautiously, then slipped into Adrien’s button down. He grabbed a messenger bag and opened it up for Nooroo. The little kwami flew into it, nodding in thanks for the extra space.

Adrien took off the pin, placing it inside the bag with Nooroo, then put a jacket in the bag for cover.

Checking over himself in the mirror, Adrien ran his fingers through his hair briefly before heading out the door to the waiting black car.

***

Marinette ran as fast as she could, hat safely contained in a hat box. She was lucky she lived so close to the school. She could feel her phone buzzing in her purse, probably Alya trying to find her. She ran through the school’s doors, noticing that Adrien was still making his way around with a woman holding a tablet.

“There you are!” Alya greeted as she placed her hat on a pedestal. “You have the hat?”

“Tada!” Marinette said as she revealed her hat. She watched her friend’s face morph from joy to disgust. She didn’t think her hat was that bad.

“It looks just like Chloe’s,” Alya said looking over Marinette’s shoulder at the hat in front of the Mayor’s daughter. The tablet with Gabriel Agreste on it was in front of her, and she was sucking up to it as she always did when she wanted her way. Marinette clenched her fists in anger.

“That... thief!” Marinette said, stomping her foot.

“Do you want me to take care of her?” Alya asked. Marinette was grateful for her best friend, but she looked at Chloe’s hat again and noticed she had copied every detail.

“Thanks, but I’ve got it,” Marinette said, pulling herself back together, and standing professionally next to her hat. The tablet swung over and Mr. Agreste frowned, obviously seeing the similarities. He ordered his assistant to show him Chloe’s hat again. Chloe, as was normal, through a fit, acting outraged at Marinette for stealing her design.

“Sorry for this, Mr. Agreste, but I can prove this hat was my own design,” Marinette said. The tablet focused back on her, and she lost a little of her bravado.

“Go ahead.” Mr. Agreste stated.

“Well, everything on my hat is handmade, from the embroidery to the stitching. I’m the one who created everything. On top of all that, there is an element which only the true designer knows.” She flipped the hat upside down and angled it so the band was visible to the tablet’s camera.

“I signed it.” At those three words, Chloe shrieked, knocking her pedestal over as she raced out of the school. Despite the commotion, he could no doubt hear through the tablet, Gabriel Agreste’s eyes were on Marinette.

“You certainly have the laboring hands of a designer, Miss…?”

“Marinette.” Adrien finished, placing a light hand on her shoulder. Marinette smiled warmly at him.

“Miss Marinette, congratulations, you are the winner of this contest. Adrien will wear your hat for his next photo shoot.” He glanced back down at the hat, urging his assistant to hold him closer to it, inspecting the detail.

“You are very thorough, and quite ambitious given the amount of time you were allowed. We are looking for a new intern at Agreste, would you be up for such a position?” Marinette’s eyes widened.

“Me? I, well…” Alya gave her a light nudge in the ribs. “I would love to!”

“Excellent. Nathalie will send you the address. I expect you there after school tomorrow.”

“Yes, of course.” Marinette kept her professional face on until the tablet was stored away and she had given her phone number to the assistant.

“I can’t believe it!” She squealed to Alya. She was gripping the other girl’s arms with a good amount of her strength, but she couldn’t help it.

“I can,” Adrien said. “You did a great job, Marinette.” Marinette was floored by the kindness of Agreste’s son. In her experience rich kids were like Chloe, throwing their name around to get what they wanted. But Adrien wasn’t anything like that. He was  _ real _ .

“Thank you.” She said, handing him the hat. His face contorted, and he sneezed. Marinette stared at him in surprise

“Sorry, I’m allergic to feathers.” Marinette smiled remembering the antics with Mr. Pigeon and Greyling. The poor boy sneezed again, a tired look overcoming his face.

“Bless you.” She said as he walked off, sneezing every now and then. She felt bad that she had made him something that would cause him misery, but how was she to know? Alya grabbed her arm and jolted her out of that train of thought. She looked at her friend’s shocked face and found the hilarity in the situation.

The girls burst into laughter, and Marinette could even hear light giggles from Tikki in her purse. Tuxedo Cat might have gotten away from Ladybug that day, but Marinette won an internship with her fashion icon.

That was enough of a victory for her.


	5. Lady Wifi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lady Wifi helps Ladybug, and we see the Butterfly Effect in action.

“I am Nathalie, Mr. Agreste’s assistant. I will take you to the sewing rooms.” Marinette nodded and followed the woman through long hallways, hearing the chug of machines get louder as they walked. Eventually they reached a door that when opened allowed the sound of sewing to spill out. Marinette looked in awe at the room, rows and rows of sewing machines, a wall of fabrics and appliques, cutting stations along the front of the room. It was everything a designer could dream of.

“You must be Marinette.” A woman, not much taller than Marinette herself, came over and held out a hand. Marinette was surprised by the firmness of the woman’s grip. “I’m Arlette Couturiere, and I’ll be your supervisor. Let me show you around and explain the jobs you’ll be doing here.”

Marinette followed happily as Arlette explained the wall of fabrics, the string organiser, and the applique corner. Marinette’s job would be to simply get the supplies the other people in the room asked for, and make sure each section stayed organized. In the busier weeks, she could help with the sewing and draping, but she would not be designing quite yet.

As they walked by the employees, occasionally one would ask for Arlette’s opinion, and she would give a critique or a suggestion. Marinette could tell she had been with the company for a decent amount of time.

As the tour came to an end, Arlette asked if Marinette had any questions. She could think of none for the moment, so she shook her head.

“Excellent, we’ll start you tomorrow. I’ll help you find things in the first two weeks, but after that, you’re on your own.” Marinette nodded, already mentally leaving a note for herself to write down the organizing system and study it. Arlette went back into the room and Nathalie lead Marinette back out of the building.

On the way out, they passed the boy from the contest, Adrien, and his huge bodyguard. His expression brightened when he saw her and he waved happily. She waved back, but Nathalie was still walking, so she followed. The door was opened for her, and she began to head in the direction of her home, already excited for the next day.

When she climbed into bed, she had a hard time sleeping, Tikki even coaching her through breathing exercises. Eventually her eyes shut, and she dreamed of sewing patterns and cat walks.

***

Marinette made her way back to her house, exhaustion already pulling her eyelids.

“Wow, time flies when you’re saving Paris,” Tikki said from her bag. They had just had a long fight, with no champion to help them this time.

“Yeah, I missed a whole afternoon of school. Ladybug saves Paris from Tuxedo Cat, but who’s going to save me from homework?” Tikki giggled and Marinette snapped her bag shut as they entered the bakery. She picked up her bag from her mom and headed up to her room to try and make a dent in her homework before her first day at Agreste. Pulling out her tablet, she noticed a sticky note taped to the front.

“Call me, I know who the real Ladybug is?” Marinette read out loud.

“Impossible, she can’t know, right?” Tikki said.

“I doubt it, Alya often jumps to conclusions before gathering all the facts,” Marinette said.

“We should still check to be sure.”

“I’m already on it.” Marinette pulled out her phone and pressed call on her best friend’s number. It failed, the icons at the top of the screen dark from lack of connection. Marinette went up to the balcony, waving the phone around hoping it was just that her bedroom had a bad time with signal. She was spotted by an electrician.

“Sorry miss, planned maintenance, the whole block is down for an hour.” Marinette sighed, thanking him before descending into her room.

“Well, I guess I can do my homework now.”

***

“Please, father? It’ll be good experience for me.” Adrien begged. If he could get the same job as Marinette, maybe he could spend some time with someone his own age for once. He could make a friend.

“You have an image, Adrien.” His father stated, but Adrien could see the gears turning in his mind.

“I have an image of a model, but if you want me to take over the company, I’ll need to know about it, and have the image of a fashion designer. Starting as an intern is the best option.” Adrien looked his father in the eye, standing tall.

“I see you have considered this thoroughly.” He rubbed his chin with his hand. “I suppose it is an acceptable activity. The Gorilla will accompany you to and from the facilities and you will be expected to work.” Adrien nearly hugged the man and wept for joy, but he contained his excitement until he was safely in his room.

“Yes! Can you believe it, Nooroo? I’m going to make a friend!” The small butterfly smiled at his chosen.

“It will be good for your training. Friendships help with identifying emotion.” Adrien nodded absently and Nooroo knew he had lost his attention. As the young man eagerly bounced around his room, Nooroo relaxed in the small bed made for him out of pillows and scraps of fluffy fabrics.

When it was time to go, Nooroo fluttered into Adrien’s bag, hiding in the hoodie that had found its permanent home there. They headed out the door and Nooroo hoped that Ladybug wouldn’t be left on her own again because they were busy.

***

Marinette’s feet dragged on her way home. It had been a long day, being an intern was a surprising amount of work. She was lucky to have Adrien working beside her, he didn’t know what he was doing any more than Marinette did, but they helped each other as they worked.

Even Tikki was quiet as she flopped on her bed. She looked at her desk, seeing her unfinished homework and groaned. Instead of laying back and closing her eyes, she got out of her bed and settled at her desk, reading the last few pages and making her comments. 

Tikki didn’t even notice when Marinette’s head hit the table, her own little body already resting on it.

\---

Marinette woke up slowly, her face unsticking from her tablet. She could hear Tikki yawn next to her.

“What time is it?” Tikki asked, stretching. Marinette turned on the screen.

“Class starts in… An hour ago!?” Marinette shoved her things into her bag and rushed off to school, wondering why her parent hadn’t come up to wake her.

***

Nooroo floated around the room, his chosen reading up on the Ladyblog, a blog run by a local girl who videoed fights and reported on any information that could lead to Ladybug’s identity.

Suddenly he sensed it, a dark feeling about another kwami. Tuxedo Cat was out.

He turned on the TV, Adrien turning around at the noise. A report of Tux was already broadcasting. Ladybug hadn’t arrived yet, but Adrien was ready to find his champion.

“Nooroo, transform me!” The suit stretched over him, and he quickly summoned a butterfly from the gardens into his room. He felt out for some emotions, and quickly found a girl who was upset, and she felt she was righteously so.

He called the butterfly to sit in his hands, transforming it into a Mitima, and sending it to the girl who was now sitting on a park bench.

“Hello, I am Greyling. I know you’re upset at the school, you were only trying to find the answers you seek. If you really want to prove that you are the better person, why not become a superhero alongside Ladybug?”

“Okay, Greyling, I’ll be Lady Wifi!” Greyling’s Mitima seeped into her, giving her the costume and special abilities that she desired. She looked at the school, glaring at the room where the principal sat.

“Lady Wifi, focus on fighting with Ladybug, not fighting some civilian. Everyone will see how good you are when you defeat Tux. You could get pardoned from your punishment.” He could feel her reluctance, but she turned the other way, following the path of destruction left by Tuxedo Cat.

***

Marinette saw Alya calling but ignored it in favor of talking in person once she reached the classroom. She slid into her seat as quietly as possible, but Alya wasn’t there. She tapped Nino.

“Where is she?” She whispered

“She got suspended.”

“What?!” She forgot to whisper that time and the teacher yelled at her. She apologized, but she needed more information. She tapped Nino again.

“What happened?” 

“She got caught snooping in Chloe’s, I mean, Ladybug’s locker.”

“What?!” This time the teacher sent her to the principal’s office. Marinette really didn’t blame her, she had been quite loud.

On the way over she pondered her best friend’s antics. Did Alya really think Chloe was Ladybug? She came to the large door of Mr. Damocles’s office and knocked. There was no answer. She called and pushed the door open, but the room was empty. Looking out the window, she could see a figure hopping from rooftop to rooftop. Tuxedo Cat was out.

Marinette looked around before transforming and leaping out the window, catching up to the figure quickly. She realized that the figure was a champion, but that still meant Tux was out and about. When she was side by side with the champion, she looked at their face and almost fell over.

“Aly- I mean, what’s your name, champion?” Ladybug asked.

“I am Lady Wifi. I have an idea for how to capture Tuxedo Cat.” Ladybug raised an eyebrow. Greyling was certainly picking more decisive characters these days.

“Explain away.” Ladybug said. Lady Wifi motioned for her to follow and they headed to Le Grand Paris Hotel. Ladybug was excited, she was going to fight alongside her best friend!

***

As Lady Wifi made her announcement, the Hotel being the obvious background, Ladybug watched the shadows for Tuxedo Cat. Eventually she caught a glimpse of something shiny darting around a nearby alley. She watched it move, then saw green eyes focus on her.

“Lady Wifi, he’s here,” She said. Lady Wifi cut off the recording icon, and the two stepped back into the hotel, trusting that Tux wouldn’t be far behind. When he came in, he rushed past them to the stairs, running down them as the two ladies followed. Lady Wifi kept sending blasts of pauses, but she couldn’t seem to catch him. Ladybug turned as the blasts stopped and Lady Wifi sighed.

“No signal.” Ladybug looked at the doors and smiled.

“We’ll just have to make him go where we want.” She pointed at the door and made the twisting motion of a key. Lady Wifi nodded and put a lock on the door. The two superheros made their way back up the stairs, locking each door on the way. Ladybug lead them to the dining level, then began to gather electronics and set them face up on tables.

“You can travel between devices, right? Hard to hit something that’s constantly moving.” Ladybug explained. Lady Wifi watched the door as Ladybug set up phones, tablets, and even a computer she found. Both heads shot up as the door slammed open, Ladybug hurrying to the opposite side of the dining room.

“You think you can hide from me?” Tux spat, calling his cataclysm. Lady Wifi vanished and appeared on top of one of the devices, sending a pause towards him. He dodged, and tried to swipe at her, but she just moved to another phone. Tux growled and began to chase her, zig zagging past pauses, and destroying phones with his other hand as he went. Lady Wifi didn’t notice when he took out the last phone, leaving her with nowhere to go.

“No!” Ladybug called as Tuxedo’s claws scraped her friend’s face, sending her across the room. Tuxedo Cat whirled to face Ladybug, but she wasn’t ready. He began to run towards her, but her eyes were on Lady Wifi who was crumpled on the ground.

Tux tackled her, Cataclysm-ed hand raised above her chest. She flinched, turning her head and trying to move, but Tux was stronger than her. She squeezed her eyes shut, apologizing to her mom, her dad, to Tikki, and to Paris as she braced for the hand to touch her.

But it never did.

She opened her eyes to see Tuxedo Cat frozen in place and Lady Wifi standing unsteadily behind him. Ladybug reached for the ring-

“Wait! Didn’t your kwami tell you? You can’t take off the ring when he’s in the middle of a cataclysm.” Ladybug stared. That wasn’t Alya’s voice coming from Lady Wifi. It was a masculine one. And there was only one other person who would know about kwamis.

“Greyling?” She asked. “What about-”

“Alya is still unable to move. I’m possessing her for now. Let’s get this fight over with so she can rest and heal with your Miraculous Cure.” Ladybug stood up, looking at Tuxedo Cat. She hefted him over so he was on his back and called for her lucky charm.

“A belt?” Ladybug looked around.

The belt.

Tuxedo Cat.

Well that was a simple one.

Ladybug tied the belt around Tuxedo Cat, getting ready to tighten it.

“Lady- er, Greyling. Can you take off the pause?” Lady Wifi’s figure crossed out the plus and Ladybug pulled as hard as she could. Tuxedo Cat, unprepared for this, didn’t put up much of a fight. The cataclysm touched his suit and Ladybug unwrapped the belt, lunging for the ring.

She should have kept the belt on him to get the ring. That would have been the smart thing. But with her friend’s bleeding face still looking blankly over at her, she wasn’t thinking, and Tuxedo Cat bolted as soon as the belt was loose. Ladybug’s shoulders fell. She felt a hand rest gently on one of them.

“We’ll get him eventually. But you need to help Alya right now.” Ladybug smiled, but was shocked when Lady Wifi kissed her knuckles. She blushed lightly.

“Until next time, my lady.” Greyling said. Ladybug took the phone from his outstretched hand, smashing it on the floor and capturing the Mitima on her finger, kissing its little body gently before cleansing it. She looked at Alya, collapsed on the floor and winced.

Ladybug threw the belt up and her little ladybugs zipped through the space, cleaning up the dining room, returning the phones to their rightful places and slowly removing the cuts from Alya’s face.

Alya finally stood up straight, pain no longer evident on her face. She looked at her own hands and then up to Ladybug.

“Was I knocked out?” She asked.

“Yes, Tux got to you. I… I couldn’t get his miraculous, but he’s in hiding now.” Ladybug looked Lady Wifi in the eye. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“It’s okay Ladybug, it was cool to fight with you, and I don’t feel anything now.” Alya held up her phone. “Could we take a selfie, though?”

“Of course,” Ladybug said, standing behind the young blogger. They snapped the photo, then Ladybug’s earrings beeped.

“Well, good luck with your blog, Alya.” She zipped out the window and landed behind a billboard to transform back.

“We’ll get him, Marinette, you’ll see!” Tikki said brightly. “And I think Greyling likes you too.” 

Marinette blushed lightly, thinking about the kiss he pressed through Alya onto her hand. She hugged it to her chest.

“You think so, Tikki?” She looked at the kwami, wise beyond her size.

“I know so, Marinette. But you have to be careful. No one can know your identity.” Marinette smiled and closed her bag, taking the scenic route home.

***

“You’re still new to this, Adrien, you just need a bit more training. The Butterfly Effect is hard to contain. I’m surprised you’ve done so well up until now.” Nooroo comforted his chosen.

“I messed up, Nooroo, I had it under control before. I won’t let it happen again.” He said, looking out his window.

“You did feel her emotions more closely, though. Did you not?” Nooroo asked, already knowing the answer but enjoying the pink color rising on his chosen’s cheeks.

“Yeah,” He sighed, eyes full of love rather than self-loathing as he looked up at the night sky.

Nooroo watched Adrien fondly, the boy’s heart was too big for his chest, but he would grow into it. He and Ladybug were made for each other. Nooroo could feel it.

***

“Girl, you won’t believe this!” Alya jumped on Marinette as she came into the school yard.

“What?” Marinette asked, latching onto her friend’s excitement. Unconsciously, she checked Alya over for scrapes and bruises. She knew from her own experience that the Miraculous Cure worked wonders, but she had to see for herself that her friend was okay.

“I got to fight with Ladybug! And since I helped her, the mayor is sending me back to school, no suspension after all!” Marinette squealed with Alya, sticking her tongue out at Chloe as they walked by. Her friend seemed to be back to normal, with no injuries. Marinette focused back on just talking with Alya.

“Oh yeah, and what’s all this with Chloe being Ladybug?” Marinette questioned.

“You really think I believe that now? I mean, Ladybug let me have a selfie with her! A selfie! Let me show you!” Marinette watched as her friend pulled up the image of herself as her alter ego with Alya.

“Girl, we have to take a selfie now, it’s about time we did.” Alya held up her phone and Marinette felt an arm pull her close. She smiled and held up a peace sign and Alya snapped the picture, and had her friend send it to her phone for a new background.

She was glad she got to see Alya perfectly fine after all of what happened, but she hoped she wouldn’t have to fight with a close friend again.

And she hoped next time she heard Greyling, it would be from his own body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you guys think of the fight scenes? I try my best to keep them accurate, but this one deviated pretty far.  
> Anyway, comments feed my muse and help me write :)


	6. The Bubbler

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Bubbler shows up, Adrien gets better at his job, and Marinette is v cute

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a day late, y'all. School was kicking my behind.  
> I post on tumblr about fic updates, so follow me there if you want to know what's up.  
> http://miraculous-lovesquare.tumblr.com/

“It’s nice to be working with a friend,” Marinette said, smiling brightly. Adrien perked up at her words. 

“It’s nice having a friend my age,” Adrien said. “Usually, I’m left socializing with adults.”

“Wait. You’ve never had… friends before?” Marinette asked. Adrien shook his head.

“Father didn’t want me to leave his sight after mother disappeared. I wasn’t really allowed out of the house.” He seemed smaller than normal, his head bowed, and his hands jammed into his pockets. Adrien could use some more friends, true friends who were his age. She nodded to herself, deciding to take on the challenge.

“Do you have a Discord?”

***

“I’m making friends, Nooroo!” Adrien said, fixing minor things about his set up. He had his webcam ready, he was logged onto discord, and his room was neat in the background.

He watched the clock, waiting as minutes dragged by. Eventually, he could find nothing to do that he hadn’t “fixed” before. He sighed and rested his chin on his hands, leg bouncing impatiently.

“What if they don’t like me? I haven’t had much experience talking with people my age.” He slouched back in his seat, staring at the ceiling.

“They’re friends with Marinette?” Adrien nodded. “If she’s friends with you, why wouldn’t they be friends with you too?”

“Don’t worry so much, Adrien, you’ll do fine.” Nooroo flitted over to his favorite hiding place and Adrien looked back at his computer, startled to see a new message in the chat.

 

walk walk fashion baby: im here, is everyone else online?

 

AAgreste: I’m here.

 

journalistic intent: just got online, ill have my camera up in a sec

 

sick beats: im here dudes, whenever you’re ready

 

walk walk fashion baby: while alya is setting up her camera, meet adrien!

 

AAgreste: Hi!

 

sick beats: yo

 

journalistic intent: hey

 

journalistic intent: okay, im ready

 

walk walk fashion baby: cool, let’s get started then

 

Adrien jumped as a big “Join Call” button appeared on the screen. He watched as the avatars appeared, finally pressing the button himself after a few seconds.

“Adrien, these are Alya and Nino, Alya and Nino, this is Adrien.” Marinette introduced. Adrien gave a little wave. He looked at the grainy image of the other girl, her hair colored at the tips and naturally curled around her face like a mane. She had thick, rounded glasses and had her phone in hand, a ladybug charm hanging off of it. He recognized her as Lady Wifi, and really, he should have known that there weren’t too many Alya’s in Paris.

“They really don’t use photoshop on you, do they?” 

“Alya!” Marinette objected. 

“It’s alright,” Adrien said, laughing lightly. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Nice to put a face to the name.” Nino paused. “Even if it is a face we’ve already seen.” Nino also had glasses, but covered his hair with a baseball cap. He had a set of headphones around his neck and was laid back, relaxed against the chair he was sitting in.

“It’s nice to meet you. Well, it’s nice to see you.” Adrien said.

“So, your old man doesn’t let you out of the house much?” Nino asked.

“Yeah, he’s… protective.” Adrien saw pity on Marinette’s face, horror on Nino’s, and concern on Alya’s. “He lets me go out with my bodyguard, though.” Their expressions didn’t change.

“That’s pretty sad, dude,” Nino said.

“So we’ll just have to talk through Discord,” Marinette said. Adrien was grateful for her brightening the mood.

“Do you think he’d let us visit you?” Alya asked. Now that was an interesting question.

“I don’t know. I know for my birthday one year he let the mayor’s daughter come over because she’s my age.”

“Chloe?” All three of them asked, with various levels of hostility. Adrien nodded.

“She’s in our class,” Nino said.

“She’s not the best character,” Marinette said gently.

“Really? I thought she was alright when she came over.” Adrien said.

“Just yesterday she made fun of Juleka for her hair, Rose for her clothes, and Max for no reason at all,” Alya said. Adrien frowned.

“Dude, Juleka’s hair is cool, I think she was jealous about that one,” Nino said. Marinette nodded in agreement.

“Is Juleka another classmate?” Adrien asked.

“Yeah, sorry dude, I forgot you don’t go to school with us. Our class is pretty cool when you take Chloe out of the mix.”

“I wish I could meet all of you in person,” Adrien said. Nino’s eyes widened.

“Dude, what if we had a party?” He asked.

“I don’t know if my father would approve,” Adrien said.

“What about a get-together, then?” Alya suggested. “You should have friends your age and this could be the way to do that.”

“I can try,” Adrien said.

“So tell us about your latest scoop, Alya,” Marinette said. The other girl began to talk about the Lady Blog, Adrien hanging onto every word.

The four talked for a while, topics shifting from Ladybug to fashion to music. Eventually, Alya and Marinette had to get off, and after talking for a while longer, Nino had to stop as well.

Adrien continued to be active in the group chat, excited that he had a group chat to be active in. Alya quickly gave him a nickname, which he set as his new username, and just like that, he had new friends.

***

“He’s actually a cool dude once you get to know him,” Nino said as they walked into the school.

“Yeah, he’s surprisingly friendly for a rich kid.” Alya added.

“He just needs some people to talk to, thank you for being on board,” Marinette said. Nino wrapped an arm around her shoulder and brought her in for a side hug.

“Any friend of yours is a friend of ours, Mari. You know how to find the good ones.”

The bell rang and the three headed to class, still talking about their latest friend.

***

Around noon was lunch time, and Nathalie would be getting back to him about the get-together idea. Adrien’s birthday was today, so it was a convenient time.

He walked down to the dining room, sitting in his normal chair. He noticed that his father wasn’t down, but the empty table was a usual sight. Nathalie strolled up to the side of the table.

“Happy birthday, Adrien.” She said, handing him his schedule. His shoulders slumped when he saw no get together on it.

“Did father get back to you on the gathering?” Adrien asked as Nathalie began to walk back out of the room. She stopped.

“He… thought it wouldn’t be a good idea.” She replied. She left the room, Adrien stewing in his thoughts. He pulled up the group chat on his phone.

 

sweet summer child: My father said the party wouldn’t be a good idea.

 

journalistic intents: i will come over there and fite him

 

walk walk fashion baby: im so sorry adrien, is there anything we can do?

 

sweet summer child: We could have a group video call today, it would be nice to see friends on my birthday.

 

journalistic intents: HE DID THIS ON YOUR BIRTHDAY?!

 

sick beats: dude, that’s not cool.

 

sick beats: im about ready to fight him myself

 

sick beats: you’re my bro, i gotta be there for you

 

sweet summer child: It’s okay guys, let’s just have a virtual party.

 

walk walk fashion baby: [happy birthday gif]

 

walk walk fashion baby: how about after dinner, so we won’t be interrupted by our parents?

 

journalistic intent: sounds good to me

 

sweet summer child: I can do that

 

sick beats: ill be there for you, bro

 

sick beats: [happy birthday gif]

 

Adrien smiled down at his phone. Marinette had some really great friends.

***

Marinette frantically dashed around her room, looking at her supplies. What could she make in a couple hours that was still meaningful?

“I’ve gotta make something nice for him Tikki, it’s his first birthday gift from a friend!”

“Calm down, Marinette, I’m sure whatever you give him, he’ll love it!” Marinette stopped for a minute and tickled Tikki’s belly with her finger. The light giggles helped calm her nerves. She looked around her room again, but with more purpose. Then she found it.

A beautiful blue fabric, probably cashmere by the texture, leftover from when she made herself a blanket. Adrien had mentioned that he was cold easily, and his room was drafty at times.

She didn’t have enough to make another blanket or even enough for a hoodie, but she could make him a hat. But she had already made him a hat. She thought for a minute before coming up with a scarf.

She set up her sewing machine and began to lay out the fabric. It would have to be good quality, this was the son of a fashion mogul, but scarves were easy enough that she could probably finish an hour or two before dinner started.

***

Adrien saw a figure in the shadows of the building across from his window. He stepped closer to investigate and saw the tell-tale ears of Tuxedo Cat.

“Are you ready, Nooroo?” He asked. The butterfly nodded.

“Nooroo, transform me!”

Greyling stood where Adrien once was, and a white butterfly flitted into the room. He felt for emotions, and found a strong sense of injustice, but vicariously so. He let the butterfly flit into his palm, changing it into a Mitima before letting it fly out and find the person who felt so wronged on behalf of someone else.

He was surprised when he found the person was upset about a stickler parent. One who wouldn’t let his son have a birthday party.  _ Nino _ ?

“Hello, I am Greyling. I understand you are upset about your friend’s parent. Why don’t you let out some of that anger against one adult, Tuxedo Cat?”

“I’m in.” The champion said, and Adrien knew that it was Nino. His friend became a garish cartoon character, the Mitama having taken residence in his bottle of bubbles.

“Remember, Bubbler, you may be angry, but you have a task to complete.” Nino nodded and jumped off, the suit allowing him to fly across short distances. Luckily, Adrien could see his mind was on Tux, not his own father.

***

“I gotta go, girl, there’s a champion out, so Ladybug should be coming out soon too,” Alya said over the phone. Marinette flicked on the TV and sure enough, a brightly colored figure was leaping around Paris.

“Yeah, okay, talk to you later!” Marinette hung up and Tikki flew to her eye level.

“Alya’s right, Ladybug is about to join in,” she said. Tikki nodded.

“Tikki, transform me!” The radiant glow of the transformation lit up her room. Ladybug slipped out through the balcony and caught up to the newest champion.

“Hello!” She greeted pleasantly. The young man turned around to face her, unhappiness pasted across his features. He looked vaguely familiar, but Ladybug couldn’t place where she’d seen him before.

“Hey Ladybug, I’m the Bubbler.” Ladybug’s mouth almost dropped open at his voice. It was Nino.

“So, Ni- Bubbler, what can you do?” Ladybug watched as bubbles came out of his wand.

“I can use these to capture people and send them where I want.”

“So you can get the citizens to safety while Tuxedo Cat is destroying.” Ladybug looked around, but the Cat wasn’t in sight.

“Have you found him yet?” She asked. Bubbler shook his head. She readied her yo-yo.

“Let’s find him then, I’m sure Greyling had a reason to give you your powers.” Bubbler simply followed her, and Ladybug mourned the loss of her friend’s happy energy.

He was probably Mitimized because he was upset about Adrien’s father. How could she cheer him up? She searched for an answer and would have flown right over Tuxedo Cat if Bubbler hadn’t been paying attention.

“Ladybug!” He hissed, and she noticed the figure down below. Backing away from the edge she was about to jump from, she followed Tuxedo Cat along the edge of the roof, keeping enough distance that he couldn’t hear her. Turning back to Bubbler, she made a swatting motion. Bubbler nodded and sent a group of bubbles towards the Cat in the alley.

As soon as the bubble stick whizzed through the air, Tuxedo Cat turned around, but it was too late. He was caught in a bubble as the two heroes approached confidently.

Before they could even drop into the narrow space, Tux called his cataclysm and ran, startling both Ladybug and Bubbler. He ran around a few corners, and it was not long before he lost them by entering a covered bridge.

“He’ll recharge fast, we’ll need a strategy.” Bubbler looked at his wand thoughtfully.

“I think I know what I can do.”

***

Greyling watched, or rather felt, helplessly as Tuxedo Cat slipped through their fingers. Bubbler was still upset, but he was doing as asked, and had even come up with a plan using a power Greyling didn’t even know he had.

Still, Nino was upset and Greyling wanted to help him. When Bubbler had told Ladybug of his idea, Greyling began to talk to him.

“I know parents can be rough sometimes, and rules can be restrictive, but right now you don’t have many. You have a job, yes, but you can have fun with it.You can find and capture one bad adult forever, it’s not who you hoped, but you’re still doing good!” Greyling felt a spark of the original rebellion that caught his attention flare up.

“This costume allows you to make bubbles and jump around unlike any normal human. Being in a suit is freeing, take advantage while you can.” Greyling advised, feeling Bubbler’s confidence grow into his suit.

“Ready?” Bubbler asked Ladybug. A positive response. “Then let’s go, dude.” Greyling smiled as his friend lead the way to the Eiffel Tower, letting bubbles spill freely from his wand.

Fighting with friends wasn’t his first choice, and he knew he would regret it later, but teaming up with someone he knew was much easier.

***

“Hey, Paris! It’s time for fun, fun, fun! We’re waiting for Tuxedo Cat right now, but we’ll take care of him quickly. You dudes should start planning a party to celebrate! Just relax, the ‘Bug and I got this under control!” Bubbler shut down the bubbles and turned to Ladybug.

“How was that?” He asked. Ladybug smiled. Whatever Greyling had said made the difference. Nino had his energy back, and he was using it to their advantage.

“That was great, Bubbler. Now we wait for Tux.” She relaxed back against the beam behind her, lazily doing yo-yo tricks.

“Um, Ladybug. We don’t have to wait.” Ladybug heard the sound of Bubbler’s weapon being used, and saw Tuxedo Cat approaching. He dodged the bubbles now, weaving in between the ones the Bubbler sent his way.

“Not cool, dude,” Bubbler said before sending out a vicious strike of tiny bubbles, all of them latching onto Tuxedo Cat. The man tried to shake them off, but they were stuck, and as more and more piled on, it became clear that there was no way out.

The layer of bubbles formed a giant one around Tuxedo Cat once more, but this time he didn’t use cataclysm.

“You know, you should think before attacking.” He said, his deep voice menacing. “You can’t get in to get my Miraculous without breaking this yourself.” He readied his Cataclysm, the dark energy rising off his hand. “Are you willing to risk it?”

Bubbler looked over at Ladybug, just as clueless as she was to solve their dilemma. She called her lucky charm.

“A wrench?”

“And a big one, too. Wonder what you could actually use it on.” Bubbler said. Ladybug looked around and saw a vent.

The tube.

The nut.

The wrench.

Bubbler.

A spike.

Ladybug smiled, directing Bubbler to get up on the higher rafters. She went to work unscrewing the nut so the tube would be set free.

“Ready for a wild ride?” She asked, finally letting the tube go. Bubbler caught the end and pointed it towards the bubble holding Tuxedo Cat. The air was easily enough to push the huge thing towards the spike behind it, popping when it was hit from the outside. Tuxedo Cat fell to the ground ungracefully and Ladybug took the opportunity to run at him, pressing his arm against his suit.

The Cataclysm tore the suit, the ears beginning to fall away, but Bubbler lost control of the tube, the air blowing against Ladybug, making her unable to see and grab the Miraculous. Tuxedo Cat saw her hinderance and ran off the tower, becoming just a speck within seconds.

“Sorry, the ride was a bit too wild for me to handle, I guess.” Bubbler apologized.

“That’s alright, you did a great job anyway.” Ladybug held out her hand for a fist bump, enjoying the little explosion they did after. Greyling talked to the champion, and Bubbler held out his wand. Ladybug broke it over her knee wordlessly, the Mitima fluttering gently onto her outstretched finger. She kissed it gently before taking its energy away, leaving the signature white butterfly.

“So, do you think you can give me a lift down?” Nino asked, the suit completely vanished. Ladybug called Miraculous Ladybug, then pulled him close.

“This ride isn’t so wild. Don’t worry.” She swung off the tower, Nino keeping a strong grip around her shoulders. They reached the ground and Nino let go, giving her the space to run off before she de-transformed.

“It sure was fun, fun, fun, Bubbler,” Ladybug said. Nino smiled back at her and she took off, making it to her room before letting go of her transformation.

“We were close, Tikki.” Marinette said, feeding her kwami a cookie. Tikki giggled through her mouthful and gave a hum of approval.

“Greyling is getting better too, we’ll have the miraculous back soon.” Marinette caught a large amount of blue out of the corner of her eye.

“The scarf!” She exclaimed, immediately resuming where she had left off. She could probably have it finished in time, but barely.

***

“You did well today, Adrien.” Nooroo said, watching the boy pace the room. His holder had set up the camera and computer an hour before they had scheduled to start. It was almost time and he was getting antsy. He was staring at his phone, typing out messages rapid fire to anyone in the group.

“It was easier with a friend.” He said, smiling gently. “But it was harder seeing him go into battle.”

“It’s probably best you don’t choose people who are close to you,” Nooroo said.

“So don’t choose Marinette, got it,” He said. Nooroo frowned. This boy had three friends, and that was only because the first one he made realized he was lonely and brought him more. Adrien was still kind and thoughtful despite his upbringing, and that made him a perfect Miraculous holder.

The phone rang, breaking both of them out of their trance. Adrien raced to his computer.

“It’s just Marinette, not the group chat.” He hovered over the button before clicking it.

“Hi Adrien, I have a gift for you, do you want to see it now, or do you just want me to give it to you tomorrow at work?” She waited for an answer, but all Adrien could do was vibrate in his chair. A gift! And one that wasn’t a fountain pen!

“I’ll take that as a ‘see it now.’” Marinette said, giggling.

“I’d love to see it,” Adrien said, finding his voice.

“Tada!” Marinette said, holding up some blue fabric. As she moved her hands it became clear it was a scarf. A lovely blue scarf. His favorite color.

“You said it got cold in your room, so I thought something to keep you warm might be nice.” She said. Adrien wanted to hug her.

“You can hug me all you want tomorrow,” Marinette said. Oh. He had said that out loud. But Marinette just smiled prettily, taking it all in stride.

“Thank you, Marinette.” He said, trying to pour his feelings into those three tiny words. She seemed to understand, her smile taking up more of her face.

“Of course, Adrien. Happy birthday.” Adrien smiled as she hung up, moving to the group chat to get ready for the next call. Alya and Nino were online, and Adrien started a video call, watching his friends faces pop up on the screen.

“Happy birthday!”

“Happy birthday, dude!”

“Happy birthday, Adrien.”

“Thank you! Now how about that latest Ladybug battle?” He asked. Alya started a rant, and Nino would correct her on details, reminding her that he was actually there. Marinette and Adrien were content to watch them narrate their way through the fight, exchanging looks every now and then. Conversation continued, winding through topics until the four were tired enough to go to bed.

As he slipped into his sheets, Adrien thought about the best birthday of his life.


End file.
